How to set up a UGC collector

Every day, people post about your brand without being asked: unboxings, outfit shots, reviews, race-day photos. A UGC collector finds those posts for you, puts them in one review queue, and lets you ask each creator for permission to reuse their content. Cleared posts can then go on your website as a content wall.

This guide walks through setting up your first collector in cyrqle. It takes about fifteen minutes. If you are still comparing tools, read how to choose a UGC platform first.

Before you start

• Collectors are available to brand and agency workspaces. You need editor access to create one and to request rights.
• Running a source spends credits. Check your balance in the credit header on the collectors page.
• Your plan caps how many sources you can monitor on a schedule at once.
• Instagram and TikTok are supported today.

Step 1: Decide what to collect

Write your list of terms before you open the product. Good starting points:

Avoid generic category hashtags such as a plain "running" or "skincare". They return large volumes of posts that have nothing to do with you, and every result costs credits.

Think per market

If you sell in Spain and Mexico, you probably have local hashtags or local handles. Consider one collector per market so each review queue stays focused. You can set a country code on a collector to filter its queue.

Step 2: Create the collector

1. In the sidebar, under Work, click UGC collectors.
2. Click New collector.
3. Enter a name. Pick it carefully: the web address is derived from the name and does not change.
4. Optionally enter a two-letter country code, for example ES or MX.
5. Type or paste your terms, separated by commas, spaces or new lines. A leading # marks a hashtag and a leading @ marks a mention.
6. Pick Instagram, TikTok or both, and Posts or Reels for Instagram. TikTok always collects videos.
7. Pick the fetch mode (see Step 3).
8. Check the preview table. It lists every source you are about to create, with estimated credits per run and per month.
9. Click Create collector.

Note that TikTok does not support mention sources. Use a hashtag or a keyword for TikTok instead.

Step 3: Choose Existing or Live

Each source has a fetch mode.

Existing is the default and the cheaper way to start. On a new workspace, or for a niche hashtag, it may return nothing simply because cyrqle does not hold those posts yet. That is when to switch a source to Live.

A Live run cannot be cancelled once started and shows no progress bar. If you repeat an identical fetch within about an hour, cyrqle reuses the earlier result and charges nothing.

Step 4: Run the sources

You can run sources three ways:

• Run all in the collector header runs every source in turn.
• Run on a single source row runs just that one.
• A monitor runs a source on a schedule (Step 5).

Run all has no confirmation step and cannot be stopped part way, so check your source list first. If you close the tab during Run all, the remaining sources do not run.

Step 5: Schedule monitors, with a budget cap

Monitors keep the queue fresh without anyone remembering to press Run.

1. Click Monitor in the collector header to set every source at once, or the monitor button on one source row.
2. Pick Daily, Weekly or Monthly.
3. Enter a monthly credit cap.
4. Save.

Always set a cap. The field is optional, and a monitor without a cap is open-ended recurring spend. The cap applies per source over 30 days; setting it at collector level applies the same cap to each source, not one shared cap. When a source reaches its cap, cyrqle pauses it and it stays paused until you turn it back on.

Weekly is a sensible starting frequency for most brands. Move to daily during a big campaign or launch.

Step 6: Review the queue

Every surfaced post lands in the collector's review queue. Filter it by platform, media type, term, rights status, country and outreach status. Sort by recency, engagement or followers. Filters live in the page address, so you can share a view with a colleague.

Each card shows:

• A rights chip: Cleared, Requested, Declined or No rights.
• A reach chip: Email when cyrqle can email the creator, DM when it cannot.

Rapid review

For a large queue, click Rapid review and work through posts with the keyboard: R to request rights, D to pass, J and K to move. At the end, download the DM list for creators without an email address.

Step 7: Request rights on the posts you want

When you find a post you want to use, request rights from the card. Read the post and the handle first: every request sends a real email to the creator immediately, with no preview and no undo. Creators without an email address go onto a DM list with their own grant link for you to send.

The full process, including writing your rights terms, is in the guide to requesting content rights from a creator.

Auto-request

Admins can switch on Auto-request, which asks for rights on every new post the collector finds. Use it only on tightly scoped collectors, for example your own campaign hashtag, where nearly every post is one you want. It applies to future posts only and handles up to 50 posts per run.

Troubleshooting

• A source returns nothing. In Existing mode, cyrqle may not hold matching posts yet. Switch to Live.
• A monitored source shows a recent run but no new posts. A run time is stamped even when a run finds nothing. Check the surfaced count, not the run time.
• You want to change a term. A source's term and kind cannot be edited. Delete the source and create a new one.
• A monitor stopped. It probably reached its budget cap. Raise the cap or wait for the next period, then turn it back on.

FAQ

How much does a collector cost to run?

It depends on mode and volume. Live runs are charged on the real cost of each run; Existing runs are charged per new post surfaced. The preview shows an estimate per run and per month before you create the collector.

Can I collect from YouTube or X?

Not today. Collectors support Instagram and TikTok.

Can I publish collected posts straight to my site?

Only after the creator grants rights. A content wall shows a post only while your brand holds an active licence for it.

Should I use one collector or several?

Several small, focused collectors (per market or per campaign) are easier to review than one large one.

Related

• UGC rights in the EU: consent, GDPR and usage terms
• From UGC to shoppable walls and product-page widgets
• How to embed a content wall on Shopify